Whatever the weather

Our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week has been set by Svenja who would like us to focus on the weather.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking to be focusing on spring showers - we’ve had sleet, ice and a sprinkle of snow this week. My brother had about 7 inches of snow in his road last weekend! 

I’ve gone for an ink blended panel directly on my card base (edges masked off with low tack tape first), splattered with some water and dotted over with Glossy Accents for raindrops. I thought a sunny coloured flower would help to emphasise the thought behind the words. The die cuts are watercolour paper so I could add fairly loose colouring to them.

The stamp set that includes this sentiment is in my box of things that I’m considering letting go but I’m now thinking I might need to rescue it just for the sentiment which I think is lovely. 

Stamps:
Sentiment from Asian Gardens Additions (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board
Watercolour

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink and Distress Oxide by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Blueprint Sketch, Salty Ocean)

Other:
Wildflower Stems #1 (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Winsor and Newton watercolours
Glossy Accents by Ranger
White crochet thread

 

Square dance

Our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week is focusing on squares - Shabneez would like to see squares feature in any way in our cards. 

I opted for a small square card base, square image panel and hand painted some little square embellishments rather than adding sequins as I might have done - I think those are visible on the photo (I used white gold paint so they're pretty subtle!).

I tried something a bit different with an embossing folder this time and added watercolouring to the raised image. It was a bit fiddly but I think it’s a pretty effect and I found it quite a “mindful” process. Running it through the embossing folder does seem to change the properties of the paper a bit, I found the colour didn’t move quite as easily.

Stamps:
Sentiment from Say It All (Hero Arts, retired)

Paper:
Watercolour

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Winsor & Newton watercolours
Silver gel pen 
Gansai Tambi starry colours (white gold used here)
Flower Frame embossing folder (Nellie Snellen)

Thanks for dropping by, hope you are keeping safe and well. 

Bagel day

Nat is setting our challenge over at Daring Cardmakers this week. Apparently it's national Bagel Day in the US so in celebration of the round food favourite Nat wants to see a circle, circle frame or aperture as the focal point for your design - baked goods are optional!

I brushed ink through my trusty acetate sheet with various circles die cut in it, stamped the dragonfly and added a bit of colour to his wings as well as some sparkle with a Spica pen, splattered with a couple of shades of gold paint and finished with a sentiment.

Stamps:
Wings (Darkroom Door)
Sentiment from an old HOTP set

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean)

Other:
Gansai Tambi Starry colours
Copic markers
Spica glitter pen (Turquoise)
Corner Chomper

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping safe and well.

January’s Elements

Happy New Year everyone, let’s hope that 2021 is a bit kinder to us all than 2020 turned out to be. 

Daring Cardmakers are back from a little festive break with the first elemental challenge of the year. As ever, just choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture (chosen by Dawn this time) to kick start your project. 

I chose a bird, bokeh background and colours. I could probably count squares too since I started with the intention of making this a standard A6 card but maybe looking at the inspiration pic cast a square spell since that’s what wanted to happen once the image was painted! Hubby got me some watercolours as a birthday gift and this is my first play with them. They do behave differently than the inks I’ve been using when I’ve done watercolour style projects and I need practise but it was fun to have a little try out with them. 

The bird was stamped with a light brown ink and used in much the way an artist might use a pencil sketch as a guide. The bokeh circles might be a bit subtle, I think I’d let the paint dry too much to have much success in lifting the colour with water so I used some white watercolour to add circles over the top of the base layer. I used Gansai Tambi White Gold (another birthday gift) for a few of them so they have a slight sheen.

The current Lost Coast Designs challenge is things that begin with B - I have a Brown Bird on a Bokeh background so I’m hooking up there. If you stamp a project featuring something that begins with B why not join in too, there are always prizes on offer!

Oh, Gundi (who often takes part in the Card Chain Challnge) just alerted me to a new-to-me challenge - thank you Gundi! The current theme at Day of the Month is National Bird Day so I’m entering this card there, too. I love bird images, I suspect they’re the second most common thing in my stamping stash (after florals). Our garden attracts a great variety of birds too - DH always jokes that the pheasants know they’re safe here as we’re vegetarian!

Here's this month's inspiration picture at DCM:

Stamps:
Perching Bird (Crafty Individuals)

Paper:
Watercolour
Kraft

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Winsor and Newton watercolours
Stitched Square frames dies (Paper Rose)
Gansai Tambi Starry Colours set

  

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe!

Link in the chain - December!

The Card Chain Challenge didn’t take its usual December break - 2020 was such a strange year that Gail and Jo decided to do a special challenge for December. The traditional format did get a break though and we got a tic-tac-toe board to play with. My card has gone to Mia in Greece this time.

Since it’s an extra challenge I thought I’d go the extra mile and play for a full house, although I confess it was partly that I was having trouble deciding which line to go for!

I thought a vintage photo might be a good way to incorporate black and white so decided to go down the collage route. This group having fun paddling in the river seemed like they’d hit the friendship theme too. I’m imagining they’ve just finished a lovely picnic on the sunny riverbank and they’re cooling off. There’s some watery ink dribbled on the card base as background colour and then some stencilling, some stamping, torn washi tape (I tore one piece in half to get two skinny pieces in case just tearing the ends seemed like too much cheating for the torn edges element!) and a bit of embossed trim and I think I managed to hit all the grid squares.

Stamps:
Bird Notes and Queen Bee (both Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Sentiment and bubbles/dots from Layering Octopus (Hero Arts)

Paper:
Bristol board
Premium weight copy paper (to print the photo)

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Mustard Seed) and Oxide (Blueprint Sketch)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Vintage photo downloaded from The Graphics Fairy
Washi tape
Star Trim Embosslit and Mixed Media 1 dies (Sizzix)
Copic markers
White paint pen by Posca
Clear Wink of Stella pen

Happy New Year to all - here’s hoping that 2021 will be kinder than 2020.

Squash and snip

The first cards I've found myself in need of post-Christmas are not necessarily the ones you want to be making - a thinking of you for a friend and a sympathy card.

I used the current Let's Squash It challenge as inspiration for both of them. The challenge is to use a folder and die cutting or fussy cutting. I actually did both for the Thinking of you card - die cut the oval panel and fussy cut part of the embossed design so I could tuck the oval into the flowers and foliage. My dad bought me this folder as a Christmas gift - it's a beauty isn't it?

I embossed some grey cardstock, highlighted the texture with some gilding wax and used a gold gel pen in the flower centres for a bit of subtle variation. 

Stamps:
A very old HOTP sentiment set

Paper:
Grey
Bristol board 

Ink:
Hero Arts shadow ink (Soft Granite)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Flower Frame 3D folder (Nellie Snellen)
Silver Rub n Buff
Oval dies (Spellbinder)
Gold gel pen

For the sympathy card, I wanted just a little bit of embossing on a clean and simple design - I put the card in the folder and bashed one corner with a hammer (I think this was the first embossing folder I ever owned ). Then I  rubbed a tiny bit of microglaze on the raised bits and washed over with watered down Distress ink. I left the die cut feathers simple white and added a few tiny gems as it looked a bit unfinished somehow but as it’s a sympathy card I didn’t want anything too in your face.  

Stamps:

Big Day Today (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:

Bristol board 

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)

Other:
Feathers dies (Spellbinder)
Textile Texture embossing folder (Cuttlebug)
Microglaze
Nail art gems
Corner Chomper 

Thanks for stopping by - there are a couple of days left if you fancy joining in at Let's Squash It.

Tags, label and toppers

Our theme for the final week of our Christmas Countdown over at Daring Cardmakers is tags, labels and toppers - thing to decorate your parcels with.

These would have been quick and easy but those die cuts ain’t half fiddly - it took ages to get all the little bits to pop out, even though they’d cut cleanly. Dad picked up a few dies for me when they were on sale at The Works, back before the world went wonky, and this was one of them. It’s pretty, with a sort of vintage vibe, and looks lovely cut in glitter cardstock - I just need to remember it’s not one to use if I’m in a rush (or try the waxed paper trick next time)!

The glitter card is super-sparkly in real life - I bought a pack in the local pound shop ages ago and it’s a good weight for die cutting. A little bit of ink applied to the tag edges with a brush, a simple stamped image and a knotted ribbon complement the die cut.

Stamps:
Festive Foliage (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Mixed media by Hannemuhl 
Silver glitter

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Pearlescent Chocolate)
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Limen)

Other:
Merry Christmas die (The Works)
Tags dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by, after this challenge DCM is taking a break until January 8th - hope you can join us! Wishing you a happy, healthy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. 

Animal antics

It's Countdown to Christmas number six over at Daring Cardmakers and today our theme is "animal antics" - make anything you like as long as it features a Christmas critter or two.

When I saw the Cool Yule set on sale a while back I knew I had to get it for the reindeer head. A friend has a felt and fabric deer head on her wall year-round (he has a Libery print fabric nose) and I couldn't resist the idea of making a Christmas card for her although I didn't go for the ditsy floral nose in the end! I cut all the pieces from white card and added colour with markers. He's a bit fiddly but it's satisfying to see him emerge as you assemble the individual bits. 

His leafy wreath is not really a Christmas stamp but I figured if I gave it red ribbon and red berries it would make a reasonable festive stand-in. I used a glitter pen on the berries for just a touch of sparkle.

Stamps:
Queen Bee (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us)
Noel (Waltzingmouse Stamps, no longer with us)

Paper:
Bristol board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Bundled Sage)
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)

Other:
Cool Yule dies (Tim Holtz/Sizzix)
Copic markers
Gel glue (Pinflair)
Spica glitter pen (red)
Corner Chomper

 

Thanks for stopping by!

December elements

It’s the first Friday of the last month of 2020! First Friday always means an “elemental” challenge over at Daring Cardmakers - choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture to kick start your project.

I chose the mittens, a square, some of the colours and little scattered circles. The mittens are from a digital image and I wanted a matching pair (the two mittens in the original have different patterns on them) so before printing I copied and flipped the snowflake mitten to get the other hand. I pressed a Distress Oxide pad directly onto the card base to get a slightly “shabby” background square.

Stamps:
Mittens and Merriment  (digital stamp by Power Poppy)
Sparkle All the Way (Crafter’s Companion)

Paper:
Bristol board
Premium weight copy paper to print image

Ink:
Momento Luxe by Tsukineko (Love Letter)
Tim Holtz Distress Oxide by Ranger (Cracked Pistachio)

Other:
White Enamel Accents by Ranger
Copic markers
White Prismacolor pencil
White paint pen by Posca 

Here's our advent inspiration this month! Thanks for stopping by.

Link in the chain - November

It’s reveal day at Card Chain Challenge - mine went over the Pond to Jutta in Canada this time so once again, light and flat for airmailing was a good idea. 

From the options on offer this time I chose the colour palette (frost, blush and silver - pretty but not the easiest to pick up on camera) and two of the themes in that I combined an ungulate animal (that’s one with hooves if, like me, you’d never come across that word!) and stars. I also managed the product option of glitter to give the reindeer a little snowy drift to stand in.

Stamps:
Stars from Hello Baby Vol 1 (Darkroom Door)
Sentiment from an old Cornish Heritage Farms set

Paper:
Bristol board
Black

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Spun Sugar, Tumbled Glass)
Delicata by Tsukineko (Silvery Shimmer)

Other:
Corner Chomper
Reindeer Family dies (Paper Rose)
Star Framelits (Sizzix)
Crystal Glamour Dust (DecoArt)

Thanks for stopping by, hope you are keeping well.